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It’s nearly thirteen years since I read ‘Promises, promises’, and I had entirely forgotten both the people and the storyline. I found it quite readable, despite being a bit over-informal in places, and finished it in just a couple of days. Yet I didn’t particularly enjoy it.
Ella is one of the main characters in this book, and one of the most likeable, too. She’s in her early thirties, and works as an interior designer and decorator. It’s clear that she’s very talented, and has built up quite a good clientele. She lives on her own after having broken up from a seven-year relationship with a man called Lawrence. She is still in touch with his 19-year-old son Toby, but still angry with Toby’s younger sister Alexis who made her life a misery, and never accepted her.
Ella has been commissioned for a Disney-style mural for the Edwards family. Ethan, the father, is courteous and friendly, but - as Ella quickly learns - is also quite arrogant, and something of a womaniser. Ethan’s wife Francine is snooty, rude and extravagant. Ella becomes friendly with Maggie, who cleans for them. Maggie is another likeable character who loves romantic novels and travel magazines. Unfortunately she’s married to the dreadful Dave, who expects her to do everything in the house, and puts her down continually.
I don’t mind a few caricatured minor characters in a novel - sometimes they’re a good balance to well-rounded, believable main characters. But in this book, other than Ella and Maggie, pretty much everyone falls into a stereotypical role. Well, other than Mrs Oates, Maggie’s neighbour, and Hal, a youngish man who has made a fortune with video games. But we don’t really get to know either of them. And the caricatures are all negative.
Francine and her neighbours (and her parents) are the worst caricature of ‘nouveau riche’ types who think themselves better than anyone else. Dave and his dreadful mother (and Dave and Maggie’s son) are selfish slobs. And the three teenage girls who feature are all caricatures of the worst kind of stereotyped rude teenager who think the world revolves around them, and ignore their parents except when they want something from them. Maggie’s mother and her cronies are frankly bizarre…
The novel is told from different perspectives, changing with each new chapter, and that mostly works well. Ella, Maggie and Ethan are the viewpoint characters although everything is told in the third person, so there are no distinctive voices. They have all made promises to themselves. Maggie wants to lose some weight, and learn to stand up for herself. Ella wants to move on from her broken relationship, and let her head rule her heart.
As for Ethan, he has decided to keep away from one-night stands and remain faithful to his wife. Although he’s apparently already broken that resolution just a few days into the new year. I found Ethan one of the most dislikable characters, possibly because he isn’t as caricatured as some of those who were deliberately intended to be unpleasant.
Ella first meets Ethan in a multi-storey car park one evening, when he’s about to be mugged. It’s a dramatic and unusual start to a friendship - of sorts - and, given the genre, means it's somewhat inevitable that they are going to end up together. I was pleased when I thought I was wrong about that. Ella decides to try again with Lawrence when his daughter has a change of heart - but then Lawrence turns out to be rather pushy and insecure.
The most disturbing thing I felt about all these people is that they seem to spend most of their time thinking about going to bed with each other. It’s not just Ethan; his neighbour Christine has been lusting after Ethan, though he has no interest in her. Maggie meets a young man at her neighbour’s house and instantly starts fantasising. And Maggie’s mother and her friends seem to spend their time wanting to find men, although at the same time they want Maggie to be faithful to Dave. The only one who seems to care about commitment and wedding vows is Ella.
A lot of the book feels rather poor taste, though I liked it more the first time I read it, and it has plenty of fans. While I did keep reading - almost compulsively at times - I’m not sure I'll want to read this again. It’s supposedly light-hearted, perhaps intended to be humorous. But I thought it quite unpleasant in places, and so it's not a book I would recommend. Erica James has written far better novels than this one.
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